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The Visitor Center and Museum at Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery is open to the public daily (except federal holidays) from 9 AM to 2 PM. Here you can follow the life cycle of our endangered Atlantic Salmon from hatching in river tributaries through epic journeys in river and ocean, and culminating in spawning runs to their birthplaces. Learn about pioneer fish culturist Charles Atkins’ and the humble beginnings of America’s oldest national fish hatchery that has evolved to become the source of salmon for all of Maine’s coastal salmon rivers.
As a federally listed endangered species, wild Atlantic Salmon are now banned from commercial harvesting or sport fishing. Yet Maine has had a storied history of sport angling for salmon and other freshwater fishes. In the museum you will be introduced to Maine’s pioneering fishing rod makers Hiram Leonard and Fred Thomas, whose six-strip bamboo rods gained global esteem in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drawing anglers from around the world to Bangor, the epicenter of salmon fishing in the eastern U.S.
In preparing for Maine’s bicentennial in 2020, the museum mounted an exhibit
that chronicles Maine’s history, from subsistence fishing to sport angling, over the past 200 years. Here you can see how cumbersome 20 ft greenheart or lancewood rods with silk and horse-hair lines evolved into modern angling equipment as Maine transformed into one of this country’s premier sporting destinations. You will also see how unregulated sport fishing led to trout and salmon population declines and how these were checked by the introduction of fish and game laws and, more recently, by more progressive ‘catch-and-release’ practices. Current issues examined include dams and lead and plastic pollution.
that chronicles Maine’s history, from subsistence fishing to sport angling, over the past 200 years. Here you can see how cumbersome 20 ft greenheart or lancewood rods with silk and horse-hair lines evolved into modern angling equipment as Maine transformed into one of this country’s premier sporting destinations. You will also see how unregulated sport fishing led to trout and salmon population declines and how these were checked by the introduction of fish and game laws and, more recently, by more progressive ‘catch-and-release’ practices. Current issues examined include dams and lead and plastic pollution.
Salmon fishing in the lower Penobscot River depended on maneuverable double-ended rowing craft, several of which are on display in the museum. A particularly notable one is an 1890s boat built by Evan Gerrish of Bangor. Around 1877 Gerrish introduced to the world the first commercially produced cedar-and-canvas canoes, sparking the development of a wooden canoe building industry along the Penobscot, from Bangor to Old Town, in the late19th and early 20th centuries.
A recently developed exhibit traces the little-known history of the modern
spinning reel, from heavy wooden or brass English ‘side-casters’ of the 1850s through European thread-line reels, and finally, to the post WW-II production of America’s first spinning reel, the Airex Bache-Brown Mastereel. Beginning in the 1970s, the manufacture of most fishing reels and rods shifted to Japan and then China.
spinning reel, from heavy wooden or brass English ‘side-casters’ of the 1850s through European thread-line reels, and finally, to the post WW-II production of America’s first spinning reel, the Airex Bache-Brown Mastereel. Beginning in the 1970s, the manufacture of most fishing reels and rods shifted to Japan and then China.
While craftsmen were developing implements for angling, artists and writers were portraying the sport – from taxidermy through artistic depiction. The exhibit “Art of the Angle” provides an introduction to notable Maine artists like watercolor artist Arthur Taylor, writer/artist Tom Hennessey, wooden fish carver Gene Bahr, and trout creel maker Bill Mackowski. As long-time outdoors columnist for the Bangor Daily News Tom Hennessey became a leading spokesman for the sport of angling, while Arthur Taylor, through his watercolor prints and writings, spearheaded Penobscot River restoration efforts that culminated in the removal of three dams in the recent decade.
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